Clean barn floors help prevent dairy cows from developing mastitis (inflammation of the udder), which can negatively affect milk production. Ideally, barn floors should be cleaned during the limited window of time when the stalls are vacant.
The prior art includes apparatuses for cleaning barn floors. German patent DE444450, 518 (Moser et al., Feb. 29, 1996) discloses a system for cleaning a livestock stall that includes a pair of scraper bars that are pulled by cables to remove manure from a base plate of the stall. Chinese utility model CN202949823 (Liu, May 29, 2013) discloses a system that includes scraper plates that are driven to slide within grooves of a barn to clean excrement accumulated with the grooves. The Bobman SL™ (Jydeland Maskinfabrik A/S, Ebeltoft, Denmark) is a stall cleaning machine that includes a powered three-wheeled cart, with an arm that pivots from the side of the cart to deploy a rotary brush. A curb scraper extends the width of the cart, and is positioned beneath the cart, and aft of the rotary brush. A hopper for carrying bedding material has a side-discharge chute for placing the bedding material on the stall floor.
The prior art also includes apparatuses for sweeping roads. German patent DE19745887 (Schneider, Apr. 27, 2000) discloses a carrier with a motor-driven cylindrical brush and a clearing blade that can be adjusted horizontally in the longitudinal direction of the brush, relative to the brush. U.S. patent application publication US2005102778 (Gregerson, May 19, 2005) discloses a rotary brush and gutter broom assembly that is mounted in front of a skid steer. A yaw pivoting joint allows a frame that supports the brush and the gutter broom to rotate about a vertical axis. Chinese utility model CN202865784 (Luo, Apr. 4, 2013) discloses a road sweeper with a pair of rotary side brooms.
None of the foregoing apparatuses is specifically suited to cleaning the configuration of barn floors commonly found in barns for dairy cows. Such barn floors include an elongate walkway with at least one adjacent raised stall floor, which forms a curb with the walkway. The walkway may be disposed between a pair of raised stall floors in a “tail-to-tail” arrangement. The walkway is typically about 2.4 meters (8 feet) to 4.5 meters (15 feet) feet wide, and the curb is typically about 15 cm (6 inches) to about 30 cm (12 inches) tall. The stall floors are typically about 2.4 meters (8 feet) to 3.0 meters (10 feet) wide, but only the rear portion of the stall floors need to be cleaned. The stall floors are typically inclined downwardly toward the walkway to allow for drainage.
There remains a need in the art for an apparatus for simultaneously cleaning the entirety of the walkway and the rear portions of a pair of raised stall floors as described above. Preferably, such an apparatus is adaptable for cleaning walkway and stall floors of different dimensions, readily maneuverable within the walkway, provides good visibility for an operator, allows for convenient loading and discharge of bedding material, and allows for convenient servicing of the apparatus.